EdoJobs charges youth on entrepreneurship

…trains 525 in Auchi on how to access grants

In a concerted effort to ensure youth in Edo State are well equipped to maximise grants opportunities to scale small businesses, EdoJobs, the state’s skills development platform, has trained not less than 525 young persons on grant writing.

The grant writing master class for entrepreneurs was organised by EdoJobs in Auchi, Etsako West Local Government Area of the state, and is aimed at training young people in the area on how to access, apply for and successfully win grants to boost their businesses.

The over 525 participants in attendance were trained on requisite skills to scale their businesses and properly position them to become bankable and ready to access external support and funding.

One of the facilitators and co-founder of Mobicure, Dr. Charles Akhimien, said it was important for small business owners to leverage external support within and outside the country in fast-tracking growth. He added, “A good number of people in Edo State have accessed grants to grow their businesses. We want to share our experiences with others.”

EdoJobs Training Consultant, Mr. Niyi Omole, said that the skills agency is poised to train more entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and contribute to the state’s economy.

According to him, “There are a number of grants that are available for small businesses especially businesses that are bankable. So, what we are doing here is to train the small business owners on the important tips and tools they need to employ in ensuring that they are prepared to access these grants. That is why we organised the training.”

A recipient of the Tony Elumelu Foundation grant, Ifedayo Durosinmi-Etti, said that entrepreneurs need to focus on what impact they intend to make on society instead of just thinking about the money.

According to him, “The idea of grants is to ensure that the entrepreneur gets the necessary support they need to scale their business after it has been proven that they have a good business case. So, it allows small business owners to scale their operations without having to think about things like collateral and interests on funds. So, if a business is well managed, it might just be a launchpad to make more impact.”